There were four leadership changes for the 116th Congress among the Senate Armed Services subcommittees, but only one gavel handoff among the Republicans who remain in the majority, the panel announced Thursday.
On the other hand, the seven Armed Services subcommittees experienced a lot of churn among the rank-and-file.
First, the leadership changes.
On the majority side, Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) will replace Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) as the gavel-holder on the panel that sets policy for the Navy and Marine Corps. The seapower subcommittee gets first crack at setting spending limits and policy for a mountain of shipbuilding and aircraft programs each year in the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). That includes the 12 planned Columbia-class submarines that will begin replacing the current fleet of 18 Ohio-class boats in 2031 as the seaborne leg of the U.S. nuclear triad.
Among Democrats, who remain in the minority for the Senate that gaveled in Jan. 3, three ranking members changed after former Armed Services members Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) lost their seats in the 2018 midterm elections.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) replaced Nelson on the Armed Forces cyber security subcommittee; Heinrich replaced Donnelly as the top Democrat on the strategic forces subcommittee; and Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) shuffled into the top spot on the emerging threats and capabilities subcommittee, previously held by Heinrich.
Heinrich’s promotion gives him more sway to a notable constituent of his: the Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, N.M. The nuclear weapons lab, managed for NNSA by the Triad National Security team, designed most of the nuclear warheads in service today with the Air Force and Navy. The lab is also expanding to produce, beginning in 2024, fissile warhead cores called plutonium pits for the Air Force’s planned Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent intercontinental ballistic missile.
Meanwhile, there was much shuffling of chairs in the 116th Congress, as some lawmakers changed subcommittees, left the full committee, or left Congress altogether.
Below is a list of former and current subcommittee members. New members are listed in italics; members who are not on a subcommittee in the 116th Congress but were on the subcommittee in the 115th Congress are listed with a strikethrough.
Airland subcommittee:
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), chair
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss)
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.)
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska)
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas.) (reassigned, off Armed Services)
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) (reassigned, off Armed Services)
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.)
Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.)
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.)
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) (replaced by McSally after a gubernatorial appointment to serve the remainder of Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) term. McCain died in 2018)
Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), ranking member
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) (lost re-election bid)
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)
Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.)
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.)
Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.)
Cybersecurity subcommittee:
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), chair
Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) (reassigned on Armed Services)
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.)
Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.)
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) (reassigned, off Armed Services)
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) (Reassigned, off Armed Services)
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.)
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.)
Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), ranking member (lost re-election bid)
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) (lost re-election bid)
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) (reassigned on Armed Services)
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), ranking member
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.)
Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.)
Emerging threats and capabilities subcommittee:
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) chair
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss) (reassigned on Armed Services)
Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.)
Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) (reassigned on Armed Services)
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas.) (reassigned, off Armed Services)
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) (reassigned on Armed Services)
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.)
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.)
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Miss.)
Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), ranking member (reassigned on Armed Services)
Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) (lost re-election bid)
Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.)
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.)
Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.)
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii)
Personnel subcommittee:
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), chair
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) (reassigned on Armed Services)
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) (reassigned, off Armed Services)
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) (reassigned, off Armed Services)
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)
Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.)
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.)
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), ranking member
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) (lost re-election bid)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.)
Readiness and management support subcommittee:
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), chair
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) (reassigned, on Armed Services)
Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.)
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa)
Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.)
Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.)
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.)
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), ranking member
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.)
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii)
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.)
Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.)
Seapower subcommittee:
Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.), chair
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss) (was chair in the 115th)
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.)
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa)
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.)
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Miss.)
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) (reassigned ,on Armed Services)
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) (replaced by McSally after a gubernatorial appointment to serve the remainder of Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) term. McCain died in 2018)
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), ranking member
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.)
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.)
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.)
Sen. Angus King (I-Maine)
Strategic forces subcommittee:
Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), chair.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.)
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.)
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska)
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.)
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Miss.)
Sen. Ted. Cruz (R-Texas.) (reassigned, off Armed Services)
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) (reassigned, off Armed Services)
Sen. John Kyl (R-Ariz.) (replaced by McSally after a gubernatorial appointment to serve the remainder of Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) term. McCain died in 2018)
Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), ranking member (lost re-election bid)
Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), ranking member
Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) (reassigned on Armed Services)
Sen. Angus King (I-Maine)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.)
Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.)